To a naturalist nothing is indifferent; the humble moss that creeps upon the stone is equally interesting as the lofty pine which so beautifully adorns the valley or the mountain: but to a naturalist who is reading in the face of the rocks the annals of a former world, the mossy covering which obstructs his view, and renders indistinguishable the different species of stone, is no less than a serious subject of regret.

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At Glen Tilt in the Cairngorm mountains in the Scottish Highlands in 1785 Hutton found granite penetrating metamorphic schists in a way which indicated that the granite had been molten at the time. Continuing along the coast they made more discoveries including sections of the vertical beds showing strong ripple marks which gave Hutton "great satisfaction" as a confirmation of his supposition that these beds had been laid horizontally in water. would be those who would remain to preserve themselves and to continue the race".

He is also credited as the first scientist to publicly express the Earth was alive and should be considered a superorganism. James Hutton FRSE (3 June 1726 OS (14 June 1726 NS) – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish physician geologist naturalist chemical manufacturer and experimental agriculturalist. His work helped to establish the basis of modern geology.